Arcanum (stylized as a͡rcānˈum on the cover) is the ninth album by Acoustic Alchemy, released on June 18, 1996. It would be their penultimate release on the GRP jazz label.
The production on this album differed from normal; the band recorded the disc live at Pinewood Film Studios, London, UK. They enlisted the help of the London Metropolitan Orchestra to provide backing.
The album contained twelve tracks, three of which were new ("Columbia", "Chance Meeting" and "Something She Said"), and the others re-recordings of tracks selected from the band's discography to this point.
Footage from some of the recording of this album appears on the GRP video release, "Best Kept Secret" (VHS 1998, DVD 2006).
Track listing # Title Writers Duration 1 "Columbia" Webb/Carmichael 4:48 2 "Homecoming" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 5:40 3 "Chance Meeting" Webb/Carmichael 3:48 4 "Lazeez" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 5:49 5 "Mr. Chow" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 3:13 6 "Same Road, Same Reason" Webb/Carmichael 4:14 7 "Casino" Webb/James 6:06 8 "Something She Said" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 3:55 9 "Jamaica Heartbeat" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 3:53 10 "Catalina Kiss" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 4:21 11 "Reference Point" Webb/Carmichael/Parsons 4:21 12 "Hearts In Chains" Webb/Carmichael 3:21
Personnel
Acoustic Alchemy Greg Carmichael – acoustic nylon guitars Nick Webb – steel string acoustic guitars John Parsons – acoustic guitars, electric guitars Dennis Murphy – bass guitar John Shepard – drums Mario Argandoña – percussion
The London Metropolitan Orchestra Caroline Dale – cello, string arrangements David Daniels – cello Andy Brown – viola Yuko Inoue – viola Rosemary Furniss – violin Elizabeth Layton – violin Cathy Thompson – violin Jeremy Williams – violin
Production Steven Jones – producer, engineer, mixing Klaus Genuit – engineer, mixing Randy LeRoy – digital editing at Final Stage Mastering (Nashville, Tennessee, USA) Denny Purcell – mastering at Georgetown Masters (Nashville, Tennessee, USA) John Shepard – art direction Laurie Goldman – graphic design Linda Schwab – artwork, CD illustrations Craig Oddy – photography Stewart Coxhead for The Art and Music Coorporation, Ltd. – management
References